You might look at the results from Florida's election Tuesday and see razor-thin margins.

Republican Ron DeSantis seemed to narrowly edge Democrat Andrew Gillum for governor; Republican Rick Scott appeared to eke out a win over Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson in the U.S. Senate race; and Republican Matt Caldwell looked like he snuck past Democrat Nikki Fried in the race for Florida Commission of Agriculture.

"This midterm was a disaster for the Florida Democratic party on every conceivable level — a disaster with which Democrats here will be contending for years," Cooke wrote.

Not only did the GOP appear to thump the Democrats in every statewide race, the passage of Amendment 5 — requiring any state tax hike be approved by two-thirds of the Legislature — "ensures that Florida will remain a low-tax, low-spending place for the foreseeable future," Cooke wrote.

And if DeSantis is governor, will get to name three new judges to the Florida Supreme Court, cementing a conservative majority.

At the presidential level, noted Cooke, Florida remains a swing state. But at the state level, it's long been crimson — and this would make it even redder.

The recounts may yet provide a purple hue. But meanwhile, in the immediate aftermath of the election, I noticed a curious reaction from many progressive friends on social media.

The reaction to the apparent loss wasn't: We need to sharpen our message next time. Many had a simpler explanation: Florida voters are stupid.

Call it a variation on Hillary Clinton's "basket of deplorables" line. Some people are too dim to know what's good for them, to realize how they should have voted! And until they wise up and rise up — well, here we are.

That feels good, I guess. But I have some unsolicited advice for anyone tempted to go down this road.

Politics is — or used to be — a game of persuasion. To succeed, you bring people around to your way of thinking. You convince them to see issues from your perspective.

You're not going to convert one single voter by calling them "stupid."

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Gil Smart(Photo: JEREMIAH WILSON/TCPALM)

Personally, I have no idea how anyone on God's (formerly) green earth could have voted for Rick Scott. That's because I live in a community hammered by blue-green algae blooms two of the past three years. In part, I blame Scott's kneecapping of the state Department of Environmental Protection, along with the general Scott-era ethos that environmental regulation is bad for business.

But people in, say, Orlando — they don't have the experience of living with toxic algae blooms. It's a remote problem for them. Their experience of Scott may be that he helped revive Florida's moribund economy, and he did. (Say what you like about Scott, and I have, but recall what Florida's economy and housing market was like when he took office in 2011.)

Their experience of Scott may be more positive than mine. Maybe they or their friends or family was out of job when he took office, and they have a job now, something like that.

You don't think they're going to be grateful for that, and vote accordingly?

It is my job, then, as someone who believes clean water should be one of Florida's top priorities, to convince them they should be more concerned that toxic waters are bad for Florida across the board and will ultimately hammer tourism — Orlando's lifeblood.

Or, you know, I could call them dumb and insinuate that my concerns are more important than their concerns, my cause more moral than theirs, and they therefore must vote the way I deem proper or it's a clear sign of idiocy.

That won't make them vote my way. It might, however, make them hate me and compel them to vote against my cause, to spite me.

How do you think President Trump got elected, anyway?

We have turned politics in this country into a secular religion. Too often, we view those who disagree as enemies, heathens to be vanquished.

Trump is a master practitioner, but the mindset predates him. He's a symptom, not the cause.

The cause is pure tribalism. It's on the rise, big-time.

And it's a big reason our country is careening down the tracks, out of control and headed toward something very bad indeed.

So my suggestion is this: If you're unhappy — or even ecstatic! — with the results of Tuesday's election, try a novel approach: Treat your political opponents as people whose opinion happens to differ from yours. Try to see the issues through their eyes.

Try convincing rather than demonizing. Especially when you see the vitriol rising, and you begin to consider what might happen if we don't.

I admit I haven't personally taken this message to heart through the years. I'm older now. Live and learn.

Gil Smart is a TCPalm columnist and a member of the Editorial Board. His columns reflect his opinion. Readers may reach him at gil.smart@tcpalm.com, by phone at 772-223-4741 or via Twitter at @TCPalmGilSmart.